Columbus misses Backspace

Columbus's most exciting, innovative and outrageous dance troop has been exported to New York City. Equipped with their own DJ Daddy Whorebucks, whose electronic beats drive the show, the part drag show, part comedy act, part dance company amalgamation is preparing to debut in their adopted city of Brooklyn, February 13th, 2010. With many shockingly great performances under their rhinestone-studded belts here in Columbus, they will take New York by storm.

DJ Daddy Whorebucks' Myspace page

Backspace performances inevitably suck the audience in visually with their flamboyant and eclectic thrift store fabulous outfits, which change scene by scene. Exaggerated make-up enhances the drama of any facial expression and endures the harsh spotlight that at times seems to isolate and scrutinize the dancers. Visually, the show is a fashion statement with roots in punk, glamour, goth and your grandmother's closet. The overall feel is David Lynchesque; beautifully strange and familiar, yet disturbing.

Lip syncing songs, which is to be expected in most run of the mill drag shows, takes the cake in a Backspace show. Songs range from the energetic, highly sexual beats of gender bender Peaches to an unforgettable monologue lip sync to the nineties pop hit "I love you always forever" by the show's director, Aaron Kint. The music is loud and continuous throughout the show, giving it the feel of a dance party to which the audience has been invited and in is sometimes invited to take part.

Backspace also allows the audience to laugh at their over the top caricatures of male and female gender stereotypes and feel comfortable enough and even invited to do so. The ebb and flow of a show goes from ridiculous mall going drag valley girls, angsty punk teenagers, strippers and party girls to more serious movements that incorporate themes of gender identification and relationship woes, which are more obviously introspective.

Columbus has not seen such in your face innovation in its art scene in a long time. Backspace will be sorely missed. Good luck to them as they spread their wings in the big apple. Hopefully they might consider returning to Columbus in the future, just for old times sake.

Kelly Lynn Darbyshire is a photographer, musician, foreign language fanatic and former bartender originally from Lima, Ohio. After taking many Russian, German, Spanish and Portuguese classes for her first year at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Kelly decided her true calling was art. Four years later she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography and minors in Spanish and German. Soon thereafter, she returned to Dresden, Germany, a city rich in history and art. She had previously studied in Dresden, Columbus's sister city, during the epoch Elbe river flood of 2002. In 2006 she interviewed gardeners and translated for a photography professor who was gathering information for a project about Germany's Schreber gardens. Kelly currently lives in Columbus and plays guitar and synths in a band called Stygios. She likes to spend as much time in Dresden as she can whenever possible.